Harrogate-based law firm Haddletons has announced a merger with Leeds firm SCE Solicitors.
SCE provides specialist employment, HR support and health and safety services.
The merger is expected to provide the enlarged firm with the opportunity to bolster the range of services it offers to clients.
The company will trade under the name of Haddletons
The merger is expected to provide the enlarged firm with the opportunity to grow, strengthen and further develop the range of services offered to clients.
James Haddleton, chief executive of Haddletons, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Samira and the SCE team into the Haddletons family.
“At both SCE and Haddletons we know our clients well and we know what we want to offer them. For that reason, the tie-up is a strategic and mutually beneficial move for both our firms’ clients, bringing them excellent practical support borne of decades of experience. We can’t wait to get going with our extended team.”
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- New Conservative Wathvale councillor puts young people at top of agenda
Harrogate business group celebrates 125th birthday
More than 100 business people attended the 125th birthday celebration for Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce last night.
The event, which was held at Roosters taproom at Hornbeam Park, included the presentation of several awards, including the President’s Cup, which was given to Robert Ogden (pictured above) of jewellers Ogden of Harrogate for services to the town.
The chamber’s 125 birthday was actually last year but the celebration was postponed for 12 months due to covid.
The much-loved Harrogate Town matchday commentator for BBC Radio York has hung up his microphone after a four-decade career with the BBC.
Barry Parker is a familiar and idiosyncratic voice to Harrogate Town fans, commentating on the club’s games since 2015.
He also featured on Town’s live matchday stream, which was a lifeline to many fans during the covid pandemic when they weren’t allowed into the grounds.
His last game was at the weekend when Harrogate Town lost 2-0 at home to Sutton United. Fans paid tribute to Mr Parker by chanting his name at half-time.
Looking back on his career, Mr Parker said:
“When I came out of college in 1979 I had no idea what I was going to do.
“I’ve had 40 wonderful years doing a job that I loved and being paid for it — I’ve been so lucky.
“If I’ve done the job well, it gets appreciated not by one or two people but by thousands, which is very heart-warming.”
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The commentator was praised by Town boss Simon Weaver, who said he has been “absolutely magnificent” for the club.
He said:
“Absolutely brilliant commentary – and sometimes totally biased in our favour! I really do appreciate him, as do all the players and the faithful who haven’t been able to travel, especially due to the pandemic. Barry has been immense for the football club. Thank you so much Barry – you are always welcome at Harrogate Town.”
BBC Radio York’s executive producer Anna Evans added:
Stray Ferret’s election coverage attracts record audience“Barry’s career with the BBC has been immense, spanning four decades. It’s rare to find someone so passionate about sport and radio. Following his final commentary game, we received so many messages from listeners sharing memories and wishing him well. It’s been an honour to have him as part of our team. We will miss him here at BBC Radio York.”
The Stray Ferret’s live election blog on Friday attracted the highest daily traffic ever to the site.
A total of 23,000 unique users logged on to the site on Friday, generating 65,000 page views.
Of these, 26,000 were for our live election blog, which provided regular updates from the count on a dramatic day of local politics.
The Stray Ferret provided the most comprehensive coverage of the historic election for the new North Yorkshire Council, profiling all candidates in the 21 Harrogate district divisions, as well as staging a local hustings event that put readers’ questions to candidates.
Tamsin O’Brien, director of the Stray Ferret, said:
“One of the reasons the site was founded was to increase interest in local democracy and the large blog following shows just how many people are engaged in political issues.
“We look forward to providing detailed political coverage of the new North Yorkshire Council as it comes into existence in 10 months time, replacing Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council.”
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- ELECTION: Full coverage of today’s Harrogate district vote
- New Conservative Wathvale councillor puts young people at top of agenda
- Lib Dems victorious in Harrogate district
New Conservative Wathvale councillor puts young people at top of agenda
Amid the frenzy of Friday’s election results for the new North Yorkshire Council, a new Harrogate borough councillor was voted in.
Conservative Sam Green was elected to represent the Wathvale ward for the final year of Harrogate Borough Council before the authority is abolished in April 2023.
He beat his closest rival Liberal Democrat Chris Knight by 365 votes, while the Green Party’s Hannah Corlett came in third place.
Speaking after his by-election win, Cllr Green, who is 26-years-old and a former Harrogate Grammar School student, pledged to put young people at the top of his agenda.
He said:
“This is my first time standing for election, so I’m of course delighted to have been elected to represent the people of Wathvale.
“I’ll strive unceasingly to try to fulfil the trust and confidence that the people of Wathvale have placed in me and the things in which I believe.
“It is my ambition to encourage greater engagement by younger voters and to try and address the fundamental issues affecting our future generations, including a need for more genuinely affordable homes.”
The by-election was held following the resignation of Conservative councillor Bernard Bateman who held the Wathvale seat since 2016.
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- What cost the Tories votes in the Harrogate district?
Cllr Green, who owns a financial and real estate company in the town, is now the youngest of the borough council’s 39 members.
He added:
“I know first hand from my peers that many young people simply cannot afford to remain in the rural villages and locations in which they have grown up in, in many instances due to the cost of housing or lack of suitable supply.
“This is a critical issue not only for these people and their families, but also for the future of the settlements themselves.
“Without fresh blood and ideas, villages and settlements slowly become less and less sustainable, with the resulting loss of services and facilities.
“Moreover, if our young people are then forced to move out of the borough to meet their housing needs in lower value areas, this creates a needless brain drain and will have several knock on effects across the borough.
“The answer is not simple, but this is something I feel very passionately has to be looked at properly and every viable avenue explored to try and address the issue.”
The turnout for the by-election vote was 38%.
Meanwhile, Conservative Nick Brown was voted in to represent the Wathvale and Bishop Monkton division on the new North Yorkshire Council in last Thursday’s local elections.
His victory was one of a few reasons to celebrate for the Tories, which loosened their grip on Harrogate by winning nine seats on the new unitary authority compared to 10 for the Liberal Democrats.
One Green Party candidate and one Independent were also elected in the district.
Tories appoint leader for new North Yorkshire CouncilFormer service station owner and ex-butcher Carl Les has been selected to lead the new Conservative-run North Yorkshire Council.
The Catterick councillor faced no opposition from the 46 other Tory councillors at the North Yorkshire County Council Conservative group’s annual meeting at Northallerton Methodist Church Hall yesterday.
Cllr Les, 72, is the current leader of North Yorkshire County Council, which is being abolished along with the seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, next year.
It means he will solidify his position as the most powerful politician in the Harrogate district and the rest of North Yorkshire.
Cllr Les’ name will be put forward as leader of the authority at the first meeting of its 90 elected members on Wednesday next week.
If, as expected, he is elected he will then go on to select councillors to serve on the authority’s decision-making executive.
It is not known whether any from Harrogate will hold senior posts. Harrogate-based Don Mackenzie, the executive member for access at the county council, did not seek re-election at last week’s election.
Harrogate Borough Council leader Richard Cooper also did not seek re-election and his deputy, Graham Swift, lost the vote in his division.
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- Lib Dems victorious in Harrogate district
Cllr Les has been at the helm of the county council since 2015, having sold his business Leeming Bar Services, near Bedale, to Moto the year before.
He has also played a leading role in a spectrum of influential bodies including North Yorkshire Youth, Welcome to Yorkshire, the Local Enterprise Partnership, Citizens Advice and the Police and Crime Panel.
Thirsk’s Gareth Dadd to be deputy leader
After a challenge from a Conservative member who has not been named, the Tory group meeting saw Thirsk councillor Gareth Dadd elected as its deputy leader, a role which he has also held for seven years.
Following the meeting, senior Tories said they hoped the decisions would end the district and borough councillor versus county councillor rivalries that have existed for decades within Conservative ranks in North Yorkshire.
Political commentators have described the pair as “pragmatic One Nation Conservatives who above all prioritise vulnerable people who are unable to help themselves”.
They have stated the top of their agenda is to ensure a smooth transition to the new unitary authority next May, squeezing out savings from the reorganisation and to get devolution.
The meeting also saw councillors Tom Jones, of Bedale, Tim Grogan, of Monk Fryston and South Milford, and Esk Valley member Clive Pearson appointed to serve as whips, acting as the leadership’s “eyes and ears” in the Tory group, which has seen its majority shrink by about 20 per cent.
When asked if the group’s whips would be busier due to the decreased majority, Cllr Les said:
Harrogate Olympic hero brings bobsleigh into his ex-school“They will have work to do to make sure people are getting to meetings or whatever.
“Not only do we have a majority over all the other parties, albeit a slim one of only two, but not everybody who is not a Conservative is against the Conservative proposals. As I did for the previous five years I will be reaching out to other members and groups to work on a common agenda as we are all there to serve the people of North Yorkshire.”
Harrogate Olympian Axel Brown has treated children at his former prep school to a special show and tell.
Axel Brown attended Brackenfield School between 1995-2003 and returned recently to talk about competing in the two-man bobsleigh at this year’s winter Olympics in Beijing, representing Trinidad and Tobago, the country of his mother’s birth.
Children had the chance to sit in Mr Brown’s bobsleigh and ask questions about his rise to Olympic fame.
Children try out the bobsleigh.
When he competed in Beijing, the school took time out of the day to watch on the big screen and cheer him on.
Mr Brown, who had seen a video of the children watching him, said:
“Seeing the kids cheering me on and chanting my name still gives me goosebumps. Seeing that was genuinely one of the most fulfilling moments of the whole experience. It’s those moments that make it all worth it.”
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Joe Masterson, headteacher at Brackenfield, said:
“Representing Trinidad and Tobago on the international stage is a huge accolade not only for Axel, but for us too – we couldn’t be more proud of the heights Axel has reached so far and we’re certain there is more to come from our super-fast and super-agile ex-pupil!”
Mr Brown, who also attended Harrogate Grammar School, played American football for Division 1 NCAA team the Colorado State Rams before taking up bobsleigh in 2014.
He said:
“I have always preferred sports with short fast efforts like sprinting, which is why I played American football in place of rugby. I also like the idea of taking one aspect of a skill and trying to do it really well, so bobsleigh has allowed me to focus and really find a niche.”
Founded in 1977, Brackenfield, is an independent school for boys and girls aged two to 11.
New chamber president ready to reinvigorate Harrogate business sceneThe new president of a business organisation celebrating its 125th anniversary said she hopes her term will be an opportunity for progress.
Sue Kramer is set to begin her two-year term at the helm of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce at its AGM tonight.
It will also mark the milestone anniversary with a celebration at Roosters taproom on Hornbeam Park, which Mrs Kramer said will be an opportunity to celebrate its long history.
Once the celebrations are over, Mrs Kramer is clear that her focus will be on the future. Her priorities include making more use of technology to keep businesses engaged and to canvas their views so they can be represented to local authorities.
“I’m looking forward to helping with working smart and being aware of moving with the times and keeping our finger on the pulse for everything.
“One thing I’m really aware of is that we have to bring about more sustainability. I want to embed sustainability into the chamber and its members. If we could all just do a little bit, it would help.”
Change can often be controversial in Harrogate – something Mrs Kramer, who runs a jewellery shop in the town centre with husband Stephen, knows only too well.
Proposals to reduce car use and encourage walking and cycling through changes in road layout, such as the £10.9m Station Gateway scheme, have drawn extensive criticism from retailers over recent months.
Plans to revamp Station Parade and James Street have proved controversial
Mrs Kramer said it was tricky to strike a balance between the importance of having more environmentally friendly measures and the need to support struggling town centre businesses. However, she said, there was nothing wrong with sharing views and debating the merits of proposals in order to ensure the right solution was reached.
“I think when these things occur, they have got to be looked at calmly and rationally and then come up with valid points for and against.
“It’s not one-size-fits-all. They are all very important and have to be viewed on their own merits.
“I don’t see the point of antagonising people. We have all got one common goal for the benefit of Harrogate.
“We should all work together. We may not always agree, but we can put that across diplomatically.”
For Mrs Kramer, working for the benefit of Harrogate comes naturally. She moved here as a child and attended local schools, as have her two children, now in their 20s.
Her early career was in recruitment and she ran an agency, with large national firms among its clients. Now, having run Crown Jewellers with her husband for more than two decades, she feels she can bring the perspectives of different businesses to her term as chamber president, with support from an active management committee representing a wide range of sectors.
Outgoing president Martin Gerrard, right, with chamber chief executive David Simister.
She is naturally a ‘do-er’: over the last few years, she has brought the shops on Commercial Street together to raise the area’s profile. She has persuaded the BID and Harrogate Borough Council to invest in improving the street too.
As the structure of local government changes over the coming year, Mrs Kramer says she will use her contacts and skills to ensure local businesses continue to have their voices heard.
“We will be building very strong relationships with North Yorkshire Council. Harrogate is going to need to step up and be very visible.
“We won’t be overlooked, but we have got to make sure we have got a strong voice.”
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Unlike pure networking groups, the chamber often has the ear of decision-makers – its upcoming programme includes a visit from the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, and senior councillors and officers regularly share their plans with members at the monthly meetings.
As the difficulties of covid are gradually left behind, Mrs Kramer said there is a huge opportunity ahead for the 125-year-old chamber to evolve.
Stray Views: Turnout for this week’s local election ‘disgusting’“It’s like spring: everything is shooting up and growing and coming back to life. It’s really exciting. Getting the members back to meetings is brilliant. We’ve got a good programme of meetings, relevant, informative and fun – we’re really moving forward.
“It’s a bit daunting [becoming president], but I’m really looking forward to it. Now we’re out of covid, there’s real scope to go a little bit further.”
Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.
Why didn’t many residents in the district vote?
Where is the curious journalism that wants to know why nearly 70% of eligible residents in the Harrogate district could not raise themselves from their sofa to vote? Why are these people so disenfranchised that they can’t be bothered to put an X on a piece of paper and have an influence on the direction of their own lives? Why is it that I haven’t seen a candidate or an activist canvasing in my area since the EU referendum in 2016?
Did people really vote in numbers for the Liberal Democrats because of a strong ideological belief, was it because they had an inspiring manifesto at a local and national level or was it simply a protest vote from an electorate that will never vote Labour? The truth is no one knows because no one bothers to ask us!
Nobody won today, the political class has been an embarrassment for some time and continues hell bent on its race to the bottom in terms of performance, conduct and perception. Beyond this our town lost its council today and probably its unique identity as a result. The Tories will celebrate their success in taking control of the unitary council and will conveniently forget that an overwhelming majority didn’t actually vote for them at all. For that, us the electorate should be ashamed of our apathy, the low turnout was disgusting.
David, Killinghall Moor
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The wrong platform
Is it not possible for the London train to depart and arrive into Platform 1 at the main Station Concourse. Everyday railway customers struggle with their luggage up stairs or along the platform to queue for the 2 Lifts.
This does not give a good first impression of Harrogate and does little to help the railway customers.
Surely this can be sorted quickly within the busy timetable. Let’s put the travellers first.
Paul Lawrence, Harrogate
Mike White, a keen amateur photographer from Birstwith, sent us this image of a Mandarin duck he photographed on the River Nidd.
The waterbird was introduced to the UK from China and escaped captivity. A shy bird, it nests in trees. Male birds have elaborate plumage.
Mr White told us he had seen three pairs of the birds on the Nidd at Birstwith this year.
Send us your photographs of the Harrogate district to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk
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Hong Kong residents choosing Harrogate for a new life
It has been a volatile few years in Hong Kong with protests, the jailing of opposition politicians and the closure of media outlets.
Now according to a local estate agent, an increasing number of people from Hong Kong are moving to Harrogate as Chinese rule has led to a crackdown on freedom and democracy.
In January last year, the UK government offered a new visa to residents of its former colony. It expects that 300,000 Hong Kongers will make the move in the next five years. Around 100,000 applied for the visa in 2021 alone.
Three of them are members of a family that moved to Harrogate last year.
Candy Yip and her husband Man Wong, both 44, brought with them bubble tea and opened a cafe called Sweet Pearl House on Commercial Street in January. It also sells traditional Hong Kong egg waffles.
Ms Yip said she wanted their daughter, 16, to have more freedom and a better education than what was possible in Hong Kong.
She said she has been impressed with the town’s safe surroundings and friendly people since making the move.
“Harrogate’s environment is very lovely and I feel very safe when I live here. People are very friendly.
“When we live in Harrogate, we can feel no stress. The people here enjoy their life and I can also feel the relaxing atmosphere.”
More fresh air
Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers above 150 metres in the world with 518.
Space is at a premium and many families live in cramped apartment buildings high up in the sky.
Harrogate’s tallest building is The Exchange on Station Parade which stands at a humble 42 metres.
There is also decidedly less hustle and less bustle than the Asian metropolis, which has almost 8 million residents.
Ms Yip said the lower building density in Harrogate coupled with much more open space makes it an appealing contrast to back home in Hong Kong.
She said:
“I think Harrogate is a popular place for Hong Kongers to live in is because Harrogate has not many tall buildings. It makes people feel more comfortable because Hong Kong has too many tall buildings and here we can get more fresh air.
“Harrogate has lots of countryside and we can also see different kinds of animals such as sheep and horses. It is really beautiful.”
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Global property map
Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post published an article in March that said Hong Kongers are ‘turbocharging’ the UK’s already red-hot housing market.
David Waddington, director at Linley & Simpson, said since the start of the year the estate agent has seen an increase in people from Hong Kong looking to move to the Harrogate district.
Many Hong Kong exiles have sold their property or businesses in the city before moving to the UK, which means they can afford the district’s high house prices.
Mr Waddington said in one new development in the area as many as 15% of the properties were sold to families relocating from Hong Kong.
“Since the turn of the year we have seen people moving from Hong Kong to start a new life in the Harrogate district in ever-increasing numbers.
“In one new homes development we launched to market recently, three of the twenty properties have been sold to families relocating from Hong Kong.
“Hits on our website from Hong Kong have witnessed a notable uptick too. While Harrogate is a magnet for home buyers from a diverse number of international countries, its name and ‘brand’ is well-known to many in Hong Kong.”
An attractive destination
HK UK Support Ltd is a company that specialises in helping people from Hong Kong relocate to the UK.
Last month it published a Q&A on its YouTube channel with Sue Brandom, inward investment officer at Harrogate Borough Council.
Ms Brandom cited Betty’s, Knaresborough and the Nidderdale countryside as reasons why the district can be an attractive destination for Hong Kongers looking to make the move.
They are all points that are hard to disagree with, although new district resident Candy Yip said Harrogate would be “perfect” if it had just a few more Asian food options.
“I miss my family and friends and also the food in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has more options of food for people such as Korean food. I think if Harrogate can have more variety of food, it will be perfect.”